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‘Who ate my pie?’.. Well, this morning I woke up and found out that during the nite, while I was sleeping, my hubby brought a friend and donated a slice of our chicken pie.. Hope the friend likes it :) Anyway, this is a Chicken pie, I made the filling using left-overs from our roast chicken. Added mushrooms, carrots and basically you could add any veggies you think is suitable. Made a roux and add it to the chicken and veggies, and there you have it – a delicious creamy chicken pie. The recipe is adapted from my favourite book “The Great British book of baking” and it tells a little story about the history of pies. I like the nursery rhyme “Sing a song of sixpence” and it goes something like this :

Sing a song of sixpence a pocket full of ryeFour and twenty blackbirds baked in a pieWhen the pie was opened, the birds began to singOh wasn’t that a dainty dish to set before the King ?

To make the pie crust, I usually grate the cold butter and use my finger to bring the dough together. Add the cold water bit by bit until the mixture binds together. Knead it very briefly until you get a dough, cover and let it rest in the fridge while you prepare the filling.

Heat the oil in a wok, and fry the chicken over medium heat. Once the meat turns white, add the carrot and onions. Cook till the carrot is slightly soft. Lastly, add the mushroom, fry and stir constantly. Once cooked, add the parsley. Set aside. Now, in a small pan, heat the butter till it melts. Stir the flour in and cook for about 3 minutes. Keep stirring. Add the chicken stock and cream. You will get a creamy sauce in 5 minutes time. Pour the cream into our fried filling, using only the amount you think is enough for the filling. Season with salt and pepper. Spoon the filling into the pie dish.

Next, roll the pastry ( I do it in between sheets of parchment paper) and drape over the pie dish. Decorate as you wish, remember to make a few slits for the steam to escape. My pie filling was not that much, so the pie crust was sort of like, sunk in

While the oven is preheating, you can put the pie in the freezer to firm up the butter in the crust. Once ready, brush the top with the beaten egg and bake at 200 C for 35 minutes or until the top is golden brown. Serve hot, with chilli sauce. Yummy !

Note : Double the shortcrust recipe, and keep the balance in the freezer, so you can make pie any time you want.